SEOUL – South Korea’s online food market posted an explosive growth last year from the previous one due to the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, reported Yonhap news agency.
According to data from Statistics Korea and industry sources, the value of online food transactions in Asia’s fourth-largest economy came to ₩43.4 trillion (RM158 billion) last year, up 62.4% from a year earlier.
The online food market surpassed the ₩40 trillion mark last year after reaching ₩26.7 trillion from a year earlier.
Last year's surge was attributed to a marked increase in contact-free consumption in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The tally covers online transactions of food, groceries, farm produce, meat and fisheries goods, as well as food delivery services.
Mobile shopping stood at ₩35.1 trillion, or 70% of the total, with internet shopping taking up the remainder.
Industry sources said food companies are beefing up efforts to catch up with soaring online shopping due to the fallout from the pandemic. – Bernama, February 15, 2021
